Spring.



J. H. STONE.

SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. 1911.

l fi 159a Patented Mar. 12 1918.

Va character as to obviate JOSEPH H. STONE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SPRING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

Application filed May 2, 1917. Serial No. 165,831.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Los Angeles, county of Los Angeles, and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Springs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in springs and refers more particularly to a construction adapted for use on cars of the Ford type, although inits broader aspects, the invention is not in any way limited to use on any particular shape of car.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a construction adapted to afford a maximum resiliency without undue recoil; to provide a construction of such the necessity of shock absorbers or similar devices; toprovide a construction which is adequately protected against end shocks; to provide a construction which can be readily applied to many types of cars now in use with little or no rearrangement of standard constructions; to provide a construction which can be readily and economically manufactured; to provide a construction which is reliable in operation, devoid of cumbersome or complicated parts and in general to provide an improved construction of the character re ferred to.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the front axle construction of a car of the Ford type equipped with my device.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation on an enlarged scale showing more clearly details of the spring.

Fig. 3 is a view on a still more enlarged scale, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and lookin in the direction of the arrows.

eferring to the drawings, 1 designates the front axle of an automobile, and 2 designates as a whole the body portion. To the axle is bolted or otherwise secured as shown at 3, 3 a pair of spring hangers, designated as a whole 4. Each of these hangers comprises a lower portion 5 secured to the axle and curved upwardly extending portion 6, and a curved downwardly extending end 7. The particular manner in which these spring hangers are fastened will vary with the load they have to support and the elasticity required.

Between each of these hangers d is sup- I, JosnrH H. Sronn, a p

is brought ported leaf spring 8, formed of as many leaves as desired and terminating at either end in an upwardly curved spring portion 9. These downwardly and then upwardly curved portions are as shown, preferably formed integral with the lower leaves of the spring. This leaf spring is secured to the hanger 4 by means of a U-shaped bracket 10. The bracket 10 is provided with a recessed portion 11 to receive the end of the lower leaf of the spring 8 into which it fits closely. The arms of the bracket 10 extend through eye-bolts 12 and are screw threaded by nuts 13, screw threaded on the upper ends of the arms of the bracket 10. These eye-bolts 12 are screw threaded into each other as shown at 14, contained within a sleeve 15. Around this sleeve is bent the lower end of the curved portion of hangers. I have found that the bracket just described is suitable for the purpose, but it is to be clearly understood that the particular form of bracket shown is not in any way essential. It is desirable, however, that the upper ends of the hangers be so secured to the leaf spring that the latter can have endwise play therein, which is the case in the illustration shown. To more securely confine the curved end 9 of the leaf spring to the spring hangers l, I provide spring clips 16, as shown more clearly in the drawings, which are of such a construction as to permit endwise movement of said curved portions relative to each other.

It will be noted that the spring hangers 4: are secured to the leaf spring at or adjacent to the point where the ends of the latter begin to curve downwardly. The action of the main body portion of the leaf spring and the extensions 9 may be compared to a leverage action in which the spring hangers 4 are fulerurns, the main body of the leaf spring, the levers, and the extensions 9 the object to be lifted. The more weight that on the springs 8, the more resistance is brought by the extensions 9, which are secured and held in place by the spring hangers, and the spring hangers being elastic, descend under the strain thus making the circle smaller under which the ends 9 work. This action makes the spring as a whole, uniformly elastic under any load or amount of shock. The combined action of the curved ends 9 and the hangers 4 is to steady and ease the vehicle against lateral movement It will be noted that the device as a whole has relatively few parts. Thefmain leaf spring may be of standard construction except that its ends are curved downwardly and upwardly to form the extensions ,9. This-can be accomplished without any difficulty in commercial manufacture. The hangers 4 are also of simple construction and the parts can be readily mounted in place and secured together.

It is apparent to those skilled in the art that the details of construction here shown in the drawings may be varied, the drawingillustrating one preferred embodiment of the invention, It is advisable, however, that the leaf-or central spring which is secured to the body of the automobile or other vehiele, shall be provided with spring ends which i i-turn are secured to suitable resilient hangers. This is due to the fact that it is neces sary in order to get the most advantageous results from the devicethat it be so constructed as to. quickly react to all shocks and in effect, serve as a combined spring and shock absorber.

I' claim as my invention:

1 1. In a device of the'character described, the combination with a vehicle body and axle therefor, ofra pair of spring hangers each having one end secured to the axle, a main s'pri'ng secured to the body and vprovided at each end with a spring extension 1 having downwardly and then upwardly curved portions, fitting within the corresponding spring hanger, connections between the other end of each hanger and the main spring, and connections between said curved portions and the adjacent parts of the hanger. e

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a vehicle body and axletherefor, of a pair of spring hangers each having one end securedto the axle, each of said hangers'being curved through outits length, a main leaf spring secured to the body and provided at each end with a spring extension having downwardly'and then upwardly curved portions, fitting with in the corresponding spring hangeiy-connece tions between the other end of each hanger and the main spring, and connections be tweensai'd curved portions and the adjacent parts of the hanger.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a vehicle and axle therefor, of an approximately straight leaf spring secured to'th'elvehicle body and provided at either end with a curved spring member, a pair of spring hangers secured to the axleand each having a curved portion extending-around the said curved members of the leaf spring and locking connections between the hangers and said curved members and arranged to permit endwise mo'vee ment of said curved portions and said curved members relatively to each other.

JOSEPH I-L. STONE.

copies. of this patenttmamb obtained for five cents each,v by addressing the "(Imantissicmer of Patents, asnn et ntn-ia" 

